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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. rest — a break
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rest — what's left
  6. stock — goods
  7. pop — soda
  8. pop — music
  9. cold — an illness
  10. clip — a video
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. net — in sport
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. pop — to visit
  15. net — after costs
  16. clip — to cut
  17. stock — shares
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. clip — for paper
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. rest — what's left
  24. chair — a leader

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com